Water-service apparatus



J. W. HILL. WATER SERVICE APPARATUS.

No. 375,748. Patented Jan. s, 1888.4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES V. HILL, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WATER-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECPICA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,748, dated January3, 1828.

Application filed October 2, i886. Serial No. 215,163.

2b @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMEs W. HILL, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vater-ServieeApparatuses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingpart of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a side elevationof'` a waterreservoir, part broken away, with my improvement applied.Fig. 2 is a vertical section through one of the relief-valves, showingthe main valve and the other reliefvalve in side view, and showing theupper Vend of the pipe in section. Fig. 3 illustrates a modification.

My invention relates to water-services where the pump that forces thewater to the reservoir is utilized to force the water through thefire-hose in times of tire. At such times a greater force is added thanis required to force the water through the pipe to the reservoirthat is,it requires greater force to throw the water to the required distancefrom the hose.

My invention consists in features of' novelty hereinafter fullydescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a reservoir, which maybe of anysize, and either formed of wood, stone, or other walls.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention l have shown a woodenreservoir of much smaller size than reservoirs of waterservieesgenerally are.

B represents the pipe through which the water is forced by means of apump and engine tothe reservoir, and the water also passes out throughthis pipe when the pump is not running. The pipe B is preferablyprovided with a bell-moutl1,B, as shown.

D represents a valve located at the mouth of the pipe B and closingupward.

E represents the seat of' the valve, above which is an opening or port,F, through which the water passes when the valve D is opened, or in theposition shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The normal position of theValve is open, and it is held open against the pressure of water whenthe pump is operating merely for the purpose of filling the reservoir byweights G, surroundingastem, D', ofthe valve.

(No mcdel.)

The weights are removable, like those of an ordinary scale, forinstance,so that the required number to hold the valve open against the normalvelocity of the water are applied. They would be held in place upon thestem by anut, D", on the stem D. The stem D is supported in a verticalposition by means of spiders F', placed in the port F, and havingopenings or perforations for embracing said stem, the valve beingthereby held at all times in a plane parallel with the plane of itsseat. Connected to the stem D by a rod, H', is a float, H, the object ofwhich is to close the valve D when a certain amount of water entersthcreservoir, to prevent an overflow.

Now, in case of a fire and the speed of the engine is increased, asstated, the valve D is closed, owing to the increased velocity of thewater in the water-pipe B, as shown in full lines, Fig. 2, the weights Gnot being sufficient to resist this additional Velocity in thewaterpipe. It will thus be seen that the water will be closed off fromthe reservoir and be forced by the pump through the pipes leadingdirectly to the tire-plugs. (Not shown.) To prevent a breakage of thepipe B at suoli times, owing to the sudden change in the speed of theengine, which causes a rapid movement ofthe water in the pipe, which, ifsuddenly checked, is apt to cause a breakage of the pipe, I have locatedon each side of the valve D a reliefvalve, l, located in a housing, I',and closing downward upon a seat, l2, formed around the port or passagel, which forms a communication between the bell-mouth B of the pipe Band the reservoir. Each valve is held upo'n its seat by a spring, J,surrounding the stem l3 of the valve, and located between a fixedcollar, 1*, and a loose collar, l5, on the stem. Now, when the increasedvelocity of the water commences and the valve D closes, the momentum ofthe water will cause these Valves I to be opened, allowing the water fora short time to pass through the valves, which prevents breakage of thepipe, which would otherwise be caused by the sudden resist-ance of thewater, due to the high velocity and the sudden closing of the valve D.As soon,.however, as the momentum of the water ceases, the valve will beclosed by the spring J, as there is not (outside of the momentum of thewater) sufficient force or pressure in the water-pipes to IOO hold themopen, and thus the entire force or power of the engine is applied toforce the water to the fire-plugs, as isdesred.

While I have shown two relief-valves, one alone might be sufficient toanswer the purpose, and, if desired, more than two could be applied.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a slight modification, where the relief-valve isplaced in a branch of the main water-pipe.

It will be understood that, should the engine stop running for any causewhen the valve is closed, the instant the pressure in the pipe B isremoved the valve D will open, owing to the Weight of itself and partswith the added Weight of the column of water in the reservoir, thisweight being sufficient to sink the float H that is used, provided thereservoir is full, the ioat H not being sufficient to hold the valveclosed when unassisted by a pressure of water beneath the valve causedby the action of the pump.

I claim as my invention l. The combination, with a reservoir hav' ing asingle port for the ingress and egress of water and a pipe communicatingwith said port, of a valve for closing said port, forced against itsseat by an increase in the pressure of the water in the supply-pipe, anda counter-balance for holding said valve from its seat while thepressure in said pipe is normal, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a reservoir having a single port for theingress and egress of water and a pipe communicating with said port, ofa valve for closing said port, a iioat having connection with the valve,whereby it is drawn to its seat when the water reaches a given level inthe reservoir, and a weight for holding said valve away from its seatwhile not acted upon by the float and while the pressure of the water inthe supply-pipe is normal, but which permits said valve to be forcedagainst its seat by an increase in the pressure `of the water in saidsupply-pipe, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a reservoir having a single port for theingress and egress of water and a single pipe communicating there with,of avalve for closing said port, a connterbalance for holdingthe valveaway from its seat while the pressure of the water Within thesupply-pipe is normal, but which counter-bat ance permits said valve tobe forced against its seat by an increase in the pressure in said pipe,and a relief-valve forced from its seat by a sudden increase in thepressure of the water within the said supply-pipe for preventing thelatter from bursting, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with a reservoir having a port, F, and a single pipecommunicating with said port, of a valve, D, for closing fll said port,forced against its seat by an increase in the pressure of the water inthe pipe, a stem.

secured to said valve, means for maintaining .said stem in verticalposition, and weights supported by said stem for holding the valve fromits Seat while the pressure within the pipe is normal, substantially asset forth.

JAS. YV. HILL.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. KNIGHT, EDW. S. KNIGHT.

